tinsel
pronunciation
How to pronounce tinsel in British English:
UK [ˈtɪnsl]
How to pronounce tinsel in American English:
US [ˈtɪnsəl]
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- Noun:
- a showy decoration that is basically valueless
- a thread with glittering metal foil attached
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- Verb:
- impart a cheap brightness to
- adorn with tinsel
- interweave with tinsel
Word Origin
- tinsel
- tinsel: [16] Tinsel is etymologically something that ‘sparkles’. Its ultimate source is Latin scintilla ‘spark’, which has also given English scintillate [17]. This was altered in the postclassical period to *stincilla, which passed into Old French as estincele ‘spark’. From this was derived the adjective estincelé ‘sparkling’, which was applied particularly to fabric with metallic thread woven into it. English took this over as tinselle, originally an adjective but soon used as a noun. Its derogatory connotations of ‘gaudiness’ or ‘cheap glamour’ began to emerge in the 17th century.=> scintillate, stencil
- tinsel (n.)
- mid-15c., "a kind of cloth made with interwoven gold or silver thread," from Middle French estincelle "spark, spangle" (see stencil (n.)). "In 14-15th c. Fr., the s of es- had long been mute" [OED]. Meaning "very thin sheets or strips of shiny metal" is recorded from 1590s. Figurative sense of "anything showy with little real worth" is from 1650s, suggested from at least 1590s. First recorded use of Tinseltown for "Hollywood" is from 1972.
Example
- 1. Trim a christmas tree with tinsel .
- 2. Xiamen si ming paper tinsel factory .
- 3. A christmas tree decorated with tinsel .
- 4. Christmas trees do it with tinsel .
- 5. And you turn it into tinsel .